


Demon's Attempt

by transpines



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angel/Demon AU, Gen, not sponsored by any major world religion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-08 12:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14694248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transpines/pseuds/transpines
Summary: Heaven is pale, prim, and forcefully tranquil. Hell is infuriating, intoxicating, and tortuously loud. As an atheist, Matthew Williams never expected to see either— but here he is.His unanticipated afterlife is nothing special. Like countless others, he serves the angelic bureaucracy; day in and day out, he's going down to Earth and visiting with others, trying to breathe goodness into a world that doesn't care. In his free time, he struggles to remember the hardships that heaven conveniently blocks out for him.But soon, his past doesn't matter. The pride demon Gilbert Beilschmidt has set his eye on Matthew, and there's little he won't do to get what he wants. If Matthew wants to have a future, he needs to make a choice: does he return to the routine that blinds and protects him, or allow the demon to take hold of him forever?





	1. A Note

Hi, everybody. If you're familiar with this account (previously named gilmattie), or read a lot of APH PruCan stories in the past, you may remember a 20,000 word fic by us called "The Demon With Manners". That fic has been deleted from AO3. It's been almost two years since I published it, and I'm realizing now that very little in the story was handled with the sensitivity and nuance it deserved. For that, I am sorry, and I'm trying to make it better.

This new fic will be set in the same world, hopefully showing a more realistic story-line. It will be different from the original. I'm not in the same place I was when I wrote "The Demon With Manners" the first time, and honestly? Few of us probably are. Hetalia is an old fandom, and many of us have moved on to other things. That's okay. My guess is that not very many people are going to read this updated story, but going back through it and fixing it is really important to me, and it might even give me some closure.

In October of 2017, I got out of an abusive romantic relationship with the person I wrote this story with. Although they didn't give much direct input into the actual writing, they heavily influenced the ideas and development of "The Demon With Manners". Looking back at it now, I can see how some of their abusive behaviors were normalized in the story, as well as how we mishandled the subjects of sexual harassment and suicide. This is not okay with me. By starting over, I'm hoping to stop perpetuating their ideas, and to help myself heal.

The original version of this story will remain on fanfiction.net under our old username, gilmattie, unless they choose to delete it. I hope you'll choose this updated version instead—for those of you out there who stumbled across this even this year. Stay safe and live well,

-transpines


	2. Arrival

He was dead, and somehow that was the only thing he knew.

 

Just moments ago, he’d been out with his friends, laughing and having a few drinks on the far side of town. The music was loud but enjoyable, the company good, the conversation… what had they even been talking about? Already, the scene was fading unnaturally from his memory. Matthew Williams found himself alone.

 

He glanced around. Huge, pale buildings now towered above him; wispy fog clouded his sight. This didn’t look like Edmonton, or Jasper, or any other city he was familiar with— no. This was somewhere new. His heart panged with anxiety, but even this soon subsided in favor of a tense serenity. He _did_ know this place, everyone did. He just wished he didn’t.

 

Many called it heaven. ‘The afterlife’ sounded more familiar to his ears. It was a concept he hadn’t believed in for a long, long time, yet here he stood— surrounded by this washed-out cityscape, oddly calm in the face of death. He knew he’d died, he must have. Somehow this didn’t distress him.

 

“Williams?”

 

Matthew turned. In the mouth of a nearby alley, where seconds ago only fog had curled, a man now leant against the brick. He was hard to make out, but not even the shadows could mask his large wings, or the bright glow of a halo above his head. _Incredible,_  Matthew thought. He nodded in the man’s— the angel’s— direction.

 

“Welcome,” the angel said, stepping forward. Matthew squinted as the light filled his eyes, and with a snap the halo vanished, quickly followed by the wings. The man smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry. My name’s Kirkland, but as I expect you’ll be seeing a lot of me, you can call me Arthur if you want. Do you know where you are?”

 

Slowly, Matthew nodded. Arthur sighed in relief. “You wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve had to _tell_ ,” he admitted, “and it’s not exactly a pleasant conversation. Lucky for you, that’s already out of the way. Now come along,” he added suddenly, and turned back toward the alleyway. Matthew followed.

 

As they walked, question after question popped into Matthew’s head. _Who is Arthur? Is this really heaven? Where are we going?_ Perhaps the most pressing: _How did I die?_

 

 _Is God real?_ he wondered for a brief moment.

 

But as each question occurred to him, the one before it slipped his mind. He found himself distracted by passing buildings, by the deep and winding path Arthur was taking him into the city. Everything felt… subdued. Something about this place radiated peace, and he felt no reason to fight it.

 

* * *

 

His name was Matthew Williams. He’d been born in Jasper, Alberta, Canada, before moving to Edmonton with his family at fourteen. He’d come out to them and only them a year later, first as gay and then bi, but he’d never felt part of anything until he’d met his friends here. He relayed all this and more to the Council of New Angels upon arriving in the city’s center. Here, the fog was noticeably lighter.

 

He still couldn’t say how he died.

 

He glanced out of the window beside him, thirty-something stories down. Now, the streets were filled with angels conducting their own business, entering and exiting the buildings below. Arthur had told him on the way that this world operated through bureaucracy; layers and layers of committees, assemblies, and boards. Despite being high up physically, this council didn’t have much power. Apparently.

 

He felt Arthur’s hand clasp at his shoulder, and he snapped back to attention.

 

“What would you say is the last thing you remember of your life? The very last thing,” a council member was asking him. Matthew’s mind went blank.  

 

“I, um,” he stumbled, “I know I went out with my friends… Carlos, and Bella… and we were just having a good time. I don’t go out that often. But I’m sorry— I can’t remember anything past that. I wish I could. I just remember us talking.”

 

He looked up at Arthur, who smiled at him in reassurance. The council member muttered something to the angel beside them, then sighed. “Well, Mr. Williams, thank you for your time. We have all we need for now. Mr. Kirkland, if you would take him to his new residence… You will both be notified if an issue arises.”

 

He got up; Arthur led him out and down and then back up into an apartment complex across the way. Matthew wondered if he’d have to pay rent, but now didn’t seem to be the time to ask. Too much had happened today to be worrying about trifles.

 

“Well, lad, this is where I leave you. At least for now,” Arthur said. Matthew felt another pang in his chest, but it was soon inexplicably soothed, as all of his other worries had been. He smiled a little.

 

“Now. I know this has all been a lot. You’re going to be alright though. I’m on duty tomorrow, but we should be able to meet up in the next few days so I can show you around properly, if you want to,” the angel offered. “If you need me before then, just go into your bathroom and look in the mirror. Say my name. If I’m not already busy, then we can talk. Is everything clear?”

 

Matthew shrugged. “I think so?”

 

“Good. Oh, try not to think too hard about anything, ‘cause really, it’ll only make it worse. We’ll get you something to do soon as the Council gets around to it… whenever that is.” Arthur seemed to zone out for a minute, but he quickly shook his head. “Right, I’m off. Remember what I told you,” he said.

 

With that, he was gone.


	3. 3-5 Business Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn't think he'd have an afterlife, but here he is. Now he has to adjust.

Heaven wasn’t much like Matthew expected. Well, it wasn’t anything like he expected considering it actually existed, where Matthew had ruled out that possibility in his life years ago. But, as Arthur had assured him on their tour of this ethereal city, ‘heaven’ wasn’t restricted to any one religion. There wasn’t one list of ‘good things’ a person had to do to get in here, and there wasn’t even just one heaven. This afterlife was spread out over hundreds of thousands of miles; different cities all connected in an inconceivably large network, just a plane above Earth. 

 

Matthew was still having a hard time believing it.

 

His pain was mostly gone. Memories of his old life had faded, the weak and distressing ones first, the more neutral ones next. Even his nostalgia of how good he’d had it was dwindling. He found himself at peace— for the most part. 

 

The lack of news from the Council of New Angels was the only thing starting to make him a little antsy. That feeling came and went, even when he tried not to dwell on it. He wasn’t sure how quickly the council usually got back to new angels about designating their roles, but he was ready. Sitting in the apartment with his brain pleasantly fuzzy, unfortunately, wasn’t getting him anywhere.

 

So, he decided to do one of the only things he could do: take the advice given to him. He stood now in his bathroom, admiring himself in the mirror before remembering what he’d wanted to do. “Uh, Arthur?” Matthew said to his reflection, uncertain. 

 

The mirror didn’t react to his command.

 

He wondered if confidence was the problem. “Arthur Kirkland,” he tried louder, and the surface wavered. It showed nothing for another minute and Matthew almost became frustrated, before the sensation simply melted away. He’d wait patiently. Soon enough, a faint grumbling could be heard from within the mirror; he recognized it as the British angel’s. “Arthur?”

 

“Ah! There you are,” Arthur said as he faded into view. “Sorry. These things aren’t terribly quick, I’m afraid. I probably should have mentioned that to you... They’re almost as antique as I am,” he muttered. Matthew laughed. 

 

“Did you need something?” Arthur asked. He glanced down out of the frame. “Oof. I’ve got to leave for a meeting in ten. Better make it quick.”

 

“What do you even do?” Matthew blurted out. It wasn’t what he meant to ask, but it was a fair question. Arthur may have skipped over that part in the tour.

 

“Oh. Well, I’m a Messenger,” he said. “When people arrive up here, I’m one of the ones who goes to meet them. And I bring them back to the main city, and try to make sure everything goes smoothly. It’s a pretty important job. Um…” he trailed off. “I meet quite a lot of people, actually, so I’m not sure how… connected, we’re going to stay. But you’ve got me on call for now.”

 

Despite how subdued Matthew had felt the last couple of days, Arthur actually looked a little worried. He offered the boy a smile, but it didn’t disguise his fidgeting. Matthew became immediately overwhelmed with the need to make him feel as calm as he did.

 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Matthew assured him. “I’m glad to have you now. We’ll just see what happens, okay?” 

 

Arthur looked up, hesitating before he answered. “Of course... I’m only being silly. Nevermind it. What did you actually want to ask, lad?”

 

_ When can I  _ do  _ things?   _ Matthew thought automatically, but he knew he couldn’t ask like that. He pushed the thought away. “I guess… I was just wondering when the council might get back to us,” he admitted. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

 

The mirror shimmered again, and Arthur’s face froze. “No, wait,” Matthew told the mirror, “I wasn’t done yet!”

 

So much for heaven being perfect. Was he going to have to worry about connectivity issues here, too?  _ Ugh.  _ He’d suffered through enough bad wifi for a lifetime already. Matthew stood up, and tried to look behind the mirror without moving it too much, just in case that made it worse. Had he lost him? 

 

“—much you can do about that, I’m afraid.” Arthur was soon saying, speaking at a volume Matthew could barely hear. “Just—” all of a sudden, the picture came back to life, and his voice returned to a normal level. It made the younger angel jump. “—wait a little bit longer and they should give you a call. Did you get all that, Matthew? You stopped there for a minute.”

 

“Yeah, I think I got it,” he said. 

 

“Good. Oh, I’ve got to go! I’m sorry. Can’t have them waiting too long. Call me later if you need me, alright? Bye.” He saw Arthur leave the frame just before it glazed over, and only his own face stared back at him. 

 

“Hi,” he mumbled. 

 

Matthew took a deep breath, then another, then another. In, and out. Within seconds, his disappointment had left him, and all he had was himself.  _ Guess I’ll just have to wait _ . 

  
_ It can’t be long now _ , he thought.  _ It’s been a few days. They’ll get back to me soon. _


End file.
